A few months ago, we covered developer Frogwares’ surprising decision to put out major DLC for Sherlock Holmes Chapter One during a difficult time. A Ukrainian studio, Frogwares has had the lives of its employees massively affected by the war in Ukraine, a conflict that has continued since late February. This would have made a potential decision by Frogwares to suspend its work understandable, but the studio has instead chosen to continue developing projects. And now, Frogwares demonstrated that it still remains undeterred by the conflict, as it announced that it has a new game in the works.
This does not mean that the war hasn’t had an effect on Frogwares’ planned releases. It did have to suspend its work on a new open-world game. This new project will have a smaller, more streamlined scope, which should make things more manageable for the developers during this time.
What all has Frogwares revealed?
For now, Frogwares has only chosen to reveal four concept images and the working title of the game, Project Palianytsia, as well as the studio’s reasoning for pursuing the project. According to Sergey Oganesyan, the communications manager at Frogwares, Project Palianytsia represents the first game that the studio has developed mostly from scratch ever since the war started. This presented new challenges that did not exist when it worked on preexisting projects during the war, which meant that the team needed to reevaluate its approach. Ultimately, the studio decided on Project Palianytsia because, although it has plenty of ambition behind it, the game still serves as a more reasonable goal for the developers to tackle.
Frogwares revealed the game in the manner that it did partially to demonstrate that the studio is still “pushing on,” and partially to serve “as a clear middle finger to those who thought they could just roll into our country hoping to disrupt and ruin our lives.” The concept art and working title do not imply that the studio has not made substantial progress with the project, as it aims to have an official reveal for the game during the summer.
What about the project itself?
For those wondering what exactly Project Palianytsia will entail, it mixes elements of eldritch horror with those of Victorian-era mystery. The studio has specifically stated that the game aims to appeal to fans of The Sinking City as well as fans of the studio’s Sherlock Holmes series. Although the studio has not yet revealed any details regarding Project Palianytsia’s gameplay, it seems safe to assume that it will feature gameplay similar to that of its previous titles, minus the open world.
Additionally, Frogwares revealed on Twitter that Epic Games gave the studio an “Epic MegaGrant” that will help relocate developers “to safer areas and will help those who’ve moved to remote regions of Ukraine, or to other nations in the EU, maintain their financial stability.”
